8 November 2010 | Lindsay Clark
Housing services firm Connaught was holding 50,000 unpaid supplier invoices when it went into administration.
KPMG, a joint administrator of Connaught Partnerships Ltd and Connaught plc, revealed in a report that hundreds of suppliers, ranging from IT firms to a rugby club, were owed money at the time the firm went into administration in September.
Brian Green, restructuring partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: “Our appointment to Connaught plc and Connaught Partnerships called for the mobilisation of a large team to unpick a huge volume of contracts and ascertain the position of a diverse range of stakeholders.”
The administrator found that Connaught PLC was the main contracting party for Connaught’s central and shared services, which included more than 4,000 vehicle contracts, 2,700 fuel cards and 8,000 mobile phone accounts.
A statement from KPMG said: “There were approximately 50,000 invoices that were yet to be processed. Work by the administrators is still ongoing to accurately determine the liabilities owed, and it looks likely to be a time-consuming exercise.”
Connaught’s entry into administration has also caused concern for buyers of its services, who have been left with the problem of finding new suppliers. While Norwich City Council has decided to retender its Connaught contract because of EU procurement law, Edinburgh City Council said that, following legal advice, it was able transfer its Connaught deal to another supplier without another round of tendering.
